Taliban Arrests Two Former Soldiers, Allege Local Sources

Sources from Baghlan province said that the Taliban’s intelligence agency arrested two former soldiers in Julga district of the province.

According to sources, these military personnel were arrested about two weeks ago and there is no news of them so far. Local Taliban officials have not yet commented on this issue.

According to sources, Noorul Haq Panjshiri, a former police officer in Baghlan province, and Abdul Rashid, a former officer of the Balkh Border Brigade Command, were arrested by the Taliban from their home in Panjsheri village of Julga district.

Local sources confirmed that the local Taliban officials denied the arrest of these former military personnel and despite the repeated visits of the families of these former soldiers to the Taliban's central offices in Kabul, the group has not provided any information about them.

Sources said that these people lived in their village after the fall of the previous government and were not connected to any military or political groups opposed to the Taliban.

According to international human rights organisations, including the United Nations, the Taliban has arrested, tortured, and in some cases killed military and security personnel of the former Afghan government in the three years since they regained power.

The Taliban has denied the accusations and in some cases linked the killings of former military personnel to personal animosities.